Grandparent Guide
Apps for grandparents to read to grandchildren from far away.
Published by Spoken Letter · 3 min read
Seven o'clock bedtime in Chicago is two in the morning in Madrid. That one fact rules out half the advice about reading to grandchildren from a distance. Some options need you both awake at the same moment. Others let you record once, whenever it suits you, and leave the story waiting for bedtime. Here are three that work in practice, and what each one asks of you.
Three Options
Option 1: A Video Call at Bedtime
FaceTime, WhatsApp video, Google Meet: use whatever the family already has. It is free and it is live, which is its real strength. A grandchild can show you the picture on the page and interrupt with questions. Two things make it harder than it sounds. The clocks have to line up, and some parents would rather keep screens out of the bedroom. If you do call, hold the book close to the camera, read a little slower than feels natural, and keep it short.
Option 2: Your Voice on Their Yoto, Through Spoken Letter
If the family has a Yoto Player, you can record a story on your own phone, in your own time, and the grandchild hears it from a card with no screen at all. In Spoken Letter you record in the browser, or upload a voice memo you have already made. Gemini helps shape your idea into a script that suits a child, and your voice stays exactly as you recorded it. The parent then sends the story to their connected Yoto account, or downloads the MP3 for a Make Your Own card. A brand-new card needs one manual link, once in the Yoto app. You never need their Yoto password, and the grandchild never uses the app.
Option 3: Yoto's Own Sharing Options
Yoto's help center describes three free ways for a relative to share homemade audio. You can record an MP3 with any voice recording app and send it by WhatsApp, email or even a USB stick; the parent turns it into a playlist and links a card. You can join the family's Yoto account, which means pairing with the player while someone at home presses its buttons. Or you can sign in to the parent's Yoto account, with their permission, and record straight into the app. These suit a grandparent who is confident with a phone, or a family where the parent is happy to handle the files.
Picking One
Which One Fits Your Family
If the time difference is small and the grandchildren love seeing your face, the video call is hard to beat. If their bedtime falls while you are asleep, or the parents want screens out of the bedroom, recorded audio on a Yoto fits better. Nothing stops you using both: a call on Sunday, and a recorded story for the other six nights. And if you already know you want a recording, the question becomes who handles the file: you, the parent, or Spoken Letter.
What to Record First
Start with something nobody else can tell. A story about their mom or dad at their age. The house you grew up in. The dog everyone still talks about. Stories of your own are also the safe choice: Yoto's sharing guidance asks for original content and rules out copyrighted material, so a story you tell beats a published book read aloud. Three to seven minutes suits a young listener, and a thirty-second goodnight is worth recording too.
A Worked Example: A Grandfather in Bogotá
A grandfather in Bogotá has two grandchildren in Toronto and one in Valencia. A video call that suits bedtime in Toronto lands at one in the morning in Valencia. So once a week he records a story on his phone, this week the one about the river behind the farm where he grew up, and sends it through Spoken Letter to all three listeners, one credit per delivery. Each family sends it to its own Yoto account, and it plays at bedtime in both houses, whatever the clock says in Bogotá.
Your Turn
Want your voice at their bedtime?
Record one story this week. The first one is free, with no payment card needed.
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